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My Fair Lady
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My Fair Lady (1964) More at IMDbPro »

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My Fair Lady (1964) -- A misogynistic and snobbish phonetics professor agrees to a wager that he can take a flower girl and make her presentable in high society.

Overview

User Rating:
7.9/10   25,325 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 46% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
George Cukor
Writers:
Alan Jay Lerner (book)
George Bernard Shaw (play)
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Contact:
View company contact information for My Fair Lady on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
25 December 1964 (USA) more
Tagline:
The loverliest motion picture of them all! more
Plot:
A misogynistic and snobbish phonetics professor agrees to a wager that he can take a flower girl and make her presentable in high society. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
Won 8 Oscars. Another 12 wins & 10 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(30 articles)
Ask the Flying Monkey! (June 1, 2009)
 (From AfterElton.com. 31 May 2009, 9:41 PM, PDT)

Aamir Khan honours Audrey Hepburn
 (From RealBollywood. 7 May 2009, 7:39 AM, PDT)

User Comments:
A musical with a brain as well as a heart more

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
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Additional Details

Runtime:
170 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.20 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) | DTS (re-release) | Dolby Digital (re-release) | Mono (16 mm prints) | Mono (35 mm optical prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (RCA Sound Recording) (70 mm prints)
Certification:
Iceland:L | USA:Approved (PCA #20570) (original rating) | USA:G (re-rating) (1970) | South Korea:All | Brazil:Livre | Canada:PG (video rating) | New Zealand:G | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | West Germany:12

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Gladys Cooper, who plays Mrs. Higgins (Henry Higgins' mother) in this film, played the same role in the 1963 Hallmark Hall of Fame television production "Hallmark Hall of Fame: Pygmalion (#12.3)" (1963), the play on which this film is based. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Higgins and Eliza are on the way out to the ball, the head maid is in the line with the other maids, but in the next shot she is again going into the line. more
Quotes:
Eliza Doolittle: I ain't dirty! I washed my face and hands before I come, I did. more
Movie Connections:
Featured in Masters of Production: The Hidden Art of Hollywood (2004) (TV) more
Soundtrack:
I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face more

FAQ

Chapter Headings, an official version:
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61 out of 85 people found the following comment useful:-
A musical with a brain as well as a heart, 28 August 2003
10/10
Author: eliza-doolittle from Cambridge

There's a lot of negative things been said about Audrey Hepburn's interpretation of the role of Eliza. Perhaps she's not ideal in the earliest scenes of the movie - her "dirtiness" is never quite believable - but it has to be said that despite this smallish drawback she still glows, and makes an amazing Eliza overall.

The reason for this is simple; Audrey Hepburn brings her "own spark of divine fire", (to quote Higgins) to the role and her vulnerability, mixed with her sweet, naive charm and even her wonderfully juvenile pettishness shown in "Just You Wait" all prove what a talented actress she really is. For an example of this, just watch Eliza's facial expression at Ascot, when she realises her opportunity to demonstrate her new-found mastery of the English tongue - sweetly hilarious.

MFL has been criticized as being too romanticized, too overblown. I disagree; musicals are suposed to be lavish affairs, and none pull it off quite so well as "My Fair Lady" does. It's a momentous film but it has its subtle points: watch the way in which Eliza's eyes are centred on Higgins when she enters at the ball, and the way in which the two of them stare at each other for a few seconds at the top of the stairs a few moments later.

It musn't be overlooked that, thanks to its being based on a Bernard Shaw play, "My Fair Lady" has what the great majority of musicals lack: a deeper meaning and something really quite profound to say.

The actor in the role of Colonel Pickering is a little weak, but it must be said that Rex Harrison IS Henry Higgins. In a lot of ways (in fact, in most ways) Higgins has an objectionable personality: rude, snobbish, impatient and even misogynistic, but somehow Rex Harrison pulls it all off and makes us like Higgins without betraying the character. As to romance, his song "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" is an ode to the kind of love which sneaks up on you. Overall, this movie is romantic, but not too sentimental. It has just enough romance to be dramatically fulfilling, but it never becomes soppy or mawkish. The word "love" is never mentioned at all and the two leads never even kiss. The famous end sequence is perfect and does the movie justice; after all, a big happy bow tied around a perfect romance at the end would simply not fit with everything we have learned about the two protagonists.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for My Fair Lady (1964)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Dubbing in older movies? daco1234
George Clooney or Brad Pitt as Higgins! kristan-bailey
Can we quit starting topics about the remake? enraged_bunny
Alfred Doolittle's Hat 1964 version schreiberbike
My Fair Lady of 1964 is THE GREATEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME! chris_topher1992
K let's talk about the original... dev-33
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